Patients at safety-net hospitals clinic were less likely to rate their care as excellent when their clinicians used their computers a lot during their encounter, according to an article published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco looked at clinician computer use and communication with chronic disease patients in safety-net clinics over a two-year period. The sample size included 71 encounters with 47 patients who spoke English or Spanish and 39 clinicians.
Patients in high computer use encounters were less likely to rate their care as excellent when compared to patients who had low computer use encounters (12 of 25 patients versus 16 of 19 patients).
"Although social rapport building can build trust and satisfaction, concurrent computer use may inhibit authentic engagement, and multitasking clinicians may miss openings for deeper connection with their patients," the authors concluded.